A post that went viral on social media locally this week serves as a form of cautionary tale on the steps one should take if they happen to roll up their coffee cup and see a bigger ticket prize come up in the popular “Roll Up the Rim to Win” contest at Tim Hortons.
In the post, which I won’t be able to embed here due to what I’ll call colourful language beyond the standard I try to maintain, a photo is displayed of a torn off winning tab from a coffee cup for a $50 gift card. In the text with the post it’s said that the prize couldn’t be redeemed in-restaurant at whats believed to be a Westman location because the tab did not include the portion of the cup that also had a PIN code on it.
In fact contest rules do state that for non-coffee prizes, whether redeeming online or in restaurant one must include the portion of their rolled up tab that includes a 9-digit pin code. The same criteria is not present for redemption of coffee or food prizes.
In the same rules its said that a total of 8478 $50 gift cards are available for the promotion in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the territories. A tally displayed on signage at the Shoppers Mall location late this afternoon indicated that that particular restaurant had seen 418 winners of various prizes overall since the contest started a little over a week ago.
Tim Hortons media relations could not be reached for comment prior to making this posting, though best suggestion if in a situation like whats described would have to be to contact the franchise’s head office to explore what options one might still have. I’d imagine the codes are there to ensure the authenticity of the system but perhaps a case can be made when contacting head office directly since a local franchisee will generally be expected to follow the rules literally as laid out.
This post will be updated should I receive further clarification from Tim Hortons.